Death of My Heart
by AotA
Summary: Can you truly kill what makes you human? Can you murder your heart and slay your bonds? When you are reduced to nothing, what will you become? ANBU!Naruto Originally a OneShot!
1. Chapter 1

**Death of My Heart**

**Strawberry Seraph**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto in any way shape or form so NYAH!!!**

**Chapter One**

A dark shadow flitted through the trees on the trail of its prey. The bone-white mask with three jagged, blood red markings on each side seemed to glisten in each stray ray of sunshine it caught. The shadow landed in the clearing its prey took refuge in. It was the end of the trail after a long chase. The hunter finally caught up to its prey.

The prey, a tall, dark-haired man, stood his ground proudly, his red gaze piercing, three whirling tomoe in each of his eyes giving him an eerie, almost inhuman appearance.

The shadow, a fox masked ANBU, straitened from a crouch on the far edge of the clearing.

"Uchiha Sasuke," the soft, emotionless voice spoke from behind the mask, steel wrapped in silk, "Your life is dictated forfeit on grounds of treason, as a missing-nin and traitor of Konoha, a subordinate of Orochimaru as well as a murderer of not a few Leaf shinobi and our allies in Suna. You have been deemed a danger to both Konoha and its inhabitants. As such, you are to be summarily executed."

Fox's last statement was punctuated by the unsheathing of pair of kodachi strapped across his back with them unmistakable sound of air itself parting before a blade, or in this case, blades.

Sasuke, if these words affected him, didn't show it, save for the smallest of flickers of emotion showing in his eyes.

"You have changed, dobe."

"The one you called 'dead last' died several years ago," Fox said coldly, before, in a burst of chakra, he slashed his kodachi through the air in front of him, forming razor sharp blades of compressed air and sent them towards his enemy. His rival. His _friend_.

"Are you so sure of that?" Sasuke asked as he sidestepped most of the attacks but one stray gust slashed across his sound hitae-ate before dashing forward and, in an unexpected move, smashed a fist into the emotionless mask that was his opponent. The force from the blow caused him to be slammed into the trunk of a tree on the far end of the clearing.

Fox's head slammed back with a snap and after a few moments spent in a motionless state, a tinkling sound resonated clearly, like the shattering of the finest of porcelain. Cracks spider webbed outward starting right in between the narrow slits that substituted for Fox's eyes. Shards fell freely to the ground, revealing a face that hadn't seen the light of day in years.

Cleft marks, three on each cheek were the defining factors on Fox's face, as were the fangs bared in an empty, humorless grin which was in truth, closer to a snarl than anything else and the red, demonic eyes that glared accusingly at the Uchiha who stood so haughtily in front of him.

Fox pushed himself upright and brushed the remaining shards from his hair into one hand, "I am sure because I witnessed his death," he said before raising his hand and opening it, letting the glimmering bits of porcelain fall to be caught by the wind and scattered, "No one can reclaim the shattered remnants of the bond Uchiha-san and Uzumaki-san shared. A person without bonds is not a person at all. Uchiha-san should know this best."

Fox continued his strange speech even as he approached the traitor, "Uzumaki-san is dead because the first bond he made was ruthlessly severed by the one he proudly called 'brother' and became a no-one." Fox was so close to the dark-haired male that they were almost breathing the same air, "Are you a no-one too?" he hissed, an inhuman thrum in the back of his throat, giving his voice an almost bestial quality.

Sasuke's eyes widened before he vanished in a puff of smoke as a kunai slashed through the air where his throat had been previously located but not before the tip drew a thin red line of welling blood.

The unmasked ANBU merely stood in the middle of the clearing, now alone, his prey had disappeared yet again, escaping like water that slipped through his fingers.

Fox closed his eyes and took a breath of the late afternoon air, the setting sun casting a rosy glow over the last piece of his shattered mask that he held, clenched in his fist.

"I cling to what I have Uchiha, even though it pains me, even though I truly do not _wish_ to. I wished that I could truly kill Uzumaki within me, and be set free of the festering hooks you set within my skin, within my heart."

"…After all… I was the one that said you cannot truly kill your heart, was I not?"

Not a breath after, the clearing was as empty as it was before either's arrival save for one lonely kunai planted in the bark of a tree, like a silent sentinel over the broken remains of what had been a friendship, guarding the crystalline porcelain shards.

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	2. Chapter 2

**Death of My Heart**

**Strawberry Seraph**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto in any way shape or form so NYAH!!!**

**Chapter Two**

Fox knelt in front of the Hokage, his mask conspicuous in its absence. He missed it with its familiar weight, however slight, and the safety of being someone _else_. Now, his mask was shattered, lying in pieces on the floor of a foreign forest.

Now he was once again Uzumaki Naruto.

Fox was his strength. His power. His pride.

Uzumaki was forever his failure.

Sasuke had shattered his mask. Shattered his ability and reduced him once again to the empty shell that he was.

Fox bowed his head lower in shame, "The mission was a failure, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade sighed and stood up, causing Fox to close his eyes and look away, unable to face the one he had come to view as a mother figure over the years.

He had nothing to give her for that invaluable gift. Merely mistakes and complications and new enemies. Failures.

A hand landed unexpectedly on the top of his head, causing him to flinch and shrink away from it. Even as he attempted to get away, he was drawn into an almost bone-crushing hug. He went ridged at the contact and started shaking when she didn't release him.

"H-Hokage-sama!"

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Sakura had stepped into office expecting to have to wake up her slothful master, not having her holding a trembling ANBU in a bear hug, making sure that he couldn't get away. At least not without seriously injuring her. And that was something no ANBU in his or her right mind would do.

Her blurted words didn't seem to help the situation at all only gaining her an angry glare, until exactly _who_ she was registered and the Hokage's entire expression brightened.

"Perfect!" Tsunade crowed, a crazy light seeming to come into her hazel eyes before she turned to the blonde ANBU who she had her arms wrapped around.

In a soft, gentle voice, the Godaime spoke to the distressed ANBU, "Fox… No, Naruto," She said, in a voice too low for Sakura to catch, "It was bound to come out sooner of later and I think she is the first one you should tell, if only her and no one else."

"He may have broken your mask but you are still the same person with or without it. Whether as ANBU or not."

"He hasn't broken _you_ until you let him."

Tsunade took one of his hands which was clenched about a piece of porcelain, and painstakingly unwrapped his fingers from the sharp edges that had dug into his skin, causing his blood to stain the previously white shard, "Take what remains, hold it close and never give up."

"After all, weren't you the one who told me that you never take back you unbending words? That that was your nindo?"

Sakura gasped in shock as she put two and two together.

"_Naruto?!_"

Slowly, the blonde turned to face her and she noticed the many differences from when she had last seen him, so long ago.

Baleful red eyes stared at her and even though they were currently fearful and lost, she couldn't resist a shudder which wracked her frame at the sight of them. Previously thin, whisker-shaped marks had branched into triangular clefts and fangs poked out from beneath his upper lip as his mouth parted slightly.

"…Sakura," he said softly. So softly that both of the others in the room had to strain to hear him.

For the pink-haired kunoichi, it was a major shock. She had almost been expecting him to shout her name in a vigorous manner that had been such an integral part of his character.

She shook herself out of her daze, "Wha-What happened to you?!"

Fox's lips sealed shut in a thin line, causing is more mature face to gain a grim and solemn cast.

Sakura took a hesitant step towards the ANBU kneeling in front of her, "…Naruto?"

His eyes sharpened at the name, now that he was over his shock, "Haruno-san, I must respectfully request that that name not be used in my presence. Uzumaki Naruto was killed several years ago." He looked away from his former teammate, now pointedly ignoring the Slug Sannin's apprentice, "Godaime-sama, I must report to headquarters, may I be dismissed?"

Tsunade sighed sadly in disappointment, "Of course…" She gestured towards the open window, "Go."

Fox nodded respectfully towards her before slipping quietly and quickly out of the office, leaving the two medic-nin to the now suffocating silence.

It was several minutes before Sakura recovered her wits enough to speak, "What…" she floundered, "_Who…_"

Sakura's master took pity on her as she sat slowly in her chair, her weariness showing through her authoritative mask, "You just met the chief phantom of our entire ANBU forces. All of Konoha even. He has the credentials, the power, and the ability to become Rokudaime Hokage… but he's a wreck _here_," she tapped two fingers on her left temple.

"He has been hated, neglected, abused, tricked, betrayed and broken, _since the day he was born_." Tsunade closed her eyes as if in silent agony, "I am surprised that he was still sane when I found out the extent of the physical and mental torture he has been made to experience for longer than he can remember."

Sakura's throat worked but no sounds came out. What was she supposed to do? To say? Why was Tsunade-sama telling her this?

"He told you that Naruto died," the older female shook her head, "In a way he did."

Tsunade pulled out a drawer and riffled through it before pulling out a picture frame and laying it on the desk then turned it around so that her student could see.

Amethyst eyes stared blankly up at her form an emotionless face. Sakura stared at it as if hypnotized while Tsunade spoke.

"This is the last picture I was able to take of him. He said that if there were no signs of him, he could become a shade, one of the demons that prey on the hearts and minds of even the steeliest shinobi. He said he would become a vessel of Konoha's will of fire, working in the shadows. He has no family and he gave up what friends he _had_ made. He became the embodiment of the perfect lifeless shinobi tool, without will of his own, by sacrificing his humanity. In short, he became everything that he was not, while giving up everything that he _was_."

Tears glimmered in her eyes was she put her head in her hands, "I don't even know where to _start_ helping him. I have seen the silently, inwardly crying child, the loud, obnoxious prankster, the number one, most surprising ninja of Konoha, and I have seen the heartless ANBU. Sometimes I wonder just who Naruto really is." Crystalline streams ran down her cheeks silently and Sakura could give her no council.

The tears were for all the ones that Naruto could no shed, or else risk drowning in maddening grief.

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	3. Chapter 3

**Death of My Heart**

**Strawberry Seraph**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto in any way shape or form so NYAH!!!**

**Chapter Three**

Fox meditated, sitting cross-legged on the ground, his acute senses stretching out even more, and for the moment, was at peace.

A small brook bubbled away, not too far from him, water chiming over rock in a merry manner and birds chirped undisturbed in the late afternoon sun in the forest around him.

The calm was shattered as a hawk flew overhead, screeching a recognizable cadence of notes. Fox's eyes opened reluctantly and he stared in an almost hateful manner up at the raptor even though he was, actually rather apathetic to its message.

The hawk was a summons, calling all jounin level shinobi to the Hokage's council room. This included off duty ANBU of said level.

Fox stood with a grunt and brushed himself off. Just when he was getting settled too, he sighed, then vanished in a puff of smoke.

_It has been two weeks since that _fiasco_ and that disgusting breakdown I had in Hokage-sama's office,_ Fox thought as he darted over roofs and busy streets, _I have a bad feeling that this is connected. Tsunade-sama really isn't the type to let something possibly wrong with one of her subordinated go unchecked but I haven't seen hide no hair of those monster called medics._ A thought struck him, _I wonder if she is planning something, _the Kyuubi jinchuuriki wondered darkly.

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When he got there, it looked safe enough but Fox wasn't about to let his guard down.

He worked one of his better genjutsu, a rather powerful one of the notice-me-not variety and settled down in an obscure corner, waiting for the other jounin to arrive.

As they filed in, Fox ticked them off on his mental roster, all the way down to Hyuuga Neji, who had just become a rookie jounin barely a month ago.

Fox frowned beneath the dark blue, almost black, veil he had taken to donning when he was either not allowed to wear his fox mask or when it was considered inappropriate to wear it. Many of the older jounin were either missing or on missions, most definitely not a coincidence. Whether the fact that they weren't there was a good thing or a bad one, Fox couldn't tell just yet but no one was alarmed so he let it slide for now.

Tsunade came into the room last, her hazel eyes ghosting professionally around the room, resting on the out of uniform ANBU for a moment, not fooled by the genjutsu in the slightest, especially not when she had been expecting it. It was a stunt Fox had pulled many times before and had never been caught. Most of the jounin never even realized that he existed actually, especially the less experienced ones.

She frowned disapprovingly and narrowed her eyes slightly, causing a few others to look in the same direction, not seeing anything, save for Neji who's Byakugan wasn't fooled and knew better than to cause an uproar, their eyes sliding away from the illusion like oil on water.

Neji followed her lead for now, though a faint, almost imperceptive crease formed on his forehead in his confusion at the discrepancy.

Tsunade took a seat at the large circular table and motioned for the others to do the same, wordlessly telling everyone just how long the meeting was going to be.

Neji watched as the veiled man sauntered almost lazily over to stand slightly behind the Hokage's chair. The prodigy fingered his kunai pouch in hidden concern for his leader's safety, uneasy at letting someone invisible to other's eyes so close to her.

Tsunade cleared her throat, "This meeting is, unfortunately, on a possible threat the Konoha as a whole."

All the people in the room shifted uneasily at that, including the man under the genjutsu, who twitched violently.

"This is not a new threat. I'm sure a few of you already know of what I am speaking of, as well as Sandaime's Law."

The way she seemed to capitalize the words with her voice caught everyone's attention.

"This is information given to all Konoha jounin and some of you have already been briefed on it so I am going to ask those that already were told of the Law and threat to return to you duties, you do not need to be here. I apologize for calling some of you needlessly."

Less than a tenth of the assembled left, making the remaining throw questioning glances at each other.

"Now," the Godaime said, all business, "What do you know of the Kyuubi?"

An uproar followed.

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Neji left the room in a daze, his thoughts effectively slush, sluggishly flowing towards whatever unknown destination it had chosen.

Who knew that Konoha held such a secret?

By _Naruto_ no less?

Neji had seen the reactions of many to Naruto. The unexplained hateful looks. The mysterious injuries he picked up when he was younger and the horrible excuses the younger Academy student gave for them.

This explained why.

That stupidly happy, idiotic mask he presented everyone…

Naruto's bird blue eyes, in actuality, now that he though about it, held more shadows than even his own. He merely disguised it better with his foxy grins.

Neji's feet took him where they willed and, after a while, he found himself standing in front a well to do ramen stand that, at the moment, only had one customer. Barely even realizing it, the Hyuuga prodigy found himself sitting with a bowl of steaming hot noodles being placed in front of him.

He murmured a low, "Itadakimasu," before moodily starting to eat.

After a while, Neji realized that the other person, sitting next to him was the same exact one who had lurked about the room during the meeting. He was swirling the noodles with his chopsticks listlessly as he stared unmoving at the bowl. It was the owner of the stand that broke the uncomfortable silence and pulled the veiled man from his thoughts.

"Eh? What's this? You haven't eaten a single bite!"

He seemed to blink at the chef before looking back down.

"…You're right," he mused in a voice Neji couldn't even begin to describe, other than being, for the moment, completely emotionally spent, "Sorry, Teuchi-san…"

The chef, Teuchi, waved it off, "Something's bothering you. _Anyone_ could tell. Usually you are_ much_ better at concealing your emotions, you know." This came out as a cross between scolding a worried, "I haven't seen you in over two weeks."

He seemed to wilt under the elderly man's gaze, "Sorry."

Teuchi just reached over the counter and patted the veiled man on his shoulder, causing him to flinch in a not quite controlled reflex, which didn't go unnoticed by him or Neji.

_Was he tortured?_ Neji wondered as he watched the interaction out of the corner of his eye.

"You know…" the chef began quietly, as if afraid to broach a sensitive subject, "Ever since—" he broke off, eyes darting to his other customer who was slowly but surely emptying his bowl, "Ever since the Incident, you've been acting strangely."

At that, he looked up and seemed to glare at the old man, "Did Tsunade-sama put you up to this?" he asked accusingly.

A grey eyebrow went up at that, "Oh? And why would the Hokage do something like that?"

He cursed under his breath, hands clenching on the table top.

"Oi!" Teuchi exclaimed as he bopped him on the head with his ever present ladle, "No clawing up my counter!"

All the anger seemed to flow out of him like air from a popped balloon and Fox deflated as he looked down at the deep scratches in polished wood, "Sorry, again. Tsunade-sama has me on the ropes. No doubt she is conspiring against me and is making plans for those rabid creatures she calls medic-nin to capture me and haul me off to the hospital. It's making me as edgy as hell and you know how hard it is to control my bloodline limit if I'm not emotionally detached."

He held up his clawed fingers and gestured to the table.

What he got in reward was another whap on the head with the ladle, "Exactly," a smug Teuchi said as the younger clutched the top of his head.

"What the hell was that for?!" he burst out.

Teuchi just smacked him again, "To show you, that _despite_ the fact that you are _showing emotion_ and not acting like some sort of drone, you aren't about to start destroying everything in sights, _Fox_."

Fox snarled at the menacing, ladle wielding, ramen chef but was startled when a muffled snort reached his ears.

The Fox and Chef Duo turned in unison to seem something they would have never expected to see in a million years.

Hyuuga Neji, Ice Prince prodigy, Rookie of the Year of his graduating class, had collapsed on the counter trying not to laugh.

Fox boggled for a moment before choking on his tongue in shock and collapsed off the stool he was sitting on.

Eventually, Neji's shaking stopped and he looked up at the two staring at him, from the chef frozen leaning over the counter to the one name Fox who was staring up at him from his spot on the ground. He scowled which seemed to snap them out of whatever horror stricken fantasy they had been having.

"What?!" he snapped as they continued to stare at him.

"Nothing!" they both quickly uttered and immediately started to strike up a conversation about the most mundane things, like the weather, as if to make Neji quickly loose interest in what they were saying. It was amusing to the Hyuuga though so he merely watched their expressive body language out of the corner of his eye as he finished off his bowl and paid before leaving, in a much better mood than he had been when he had arrived.

Few things could make Neji laugh, and it seemed that he had just found one of them.

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	4. Note and preview

DoMH – Author Note:

I'm sorry that I haven't updated in such a _looooooong_ time but I have been shuffling back and forth moving and it is quite hard to keep update schedules in working order.

Mouuuuuu…

Doesn't life just suck sometimes?

**--Strawberry Seraph**

Since I've kept you all waiting so long already, I'm going to update again tomorrow but it may be a long time again before I am able to update but for now here is a little teaser for tomorrows update:

**Teuchi frowned thought, **_**I pray to Kami-sama however that whatever it is that is doing this doesn't destroy him like that damn Uchiha brat almost did. Naruto has enough problems trusting people without something like that happening again.**_

**He followed Fox with his eyes, **_**I'm going to tell Tsunade-sama about this. It is about **_**time**_** something good happened to that boy. She'll be overjoyed.**_

It's not much but eh… you'll just have to wait…


	5. Chapter 4

Death of My Heart

DoMH6

**Death of My Heart**

**Strawberry Seraph**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto in any way shape of form so NYAH!!**

**Chapter Four**

Fox watched Neji's retreating back, his lips curling, a hesitant smile touching his face, stretching muscles that hadn't been put to much use in a long while, muscles that he had almost forgotten how to use.

Suddenly and old, slightly wrinkled face appeared in front of him, bringing them almost nose to nose.

Fox fell back in shock, wide eyed at the fact the Teuchi could sneak up on him. I mean, come on! The guy was only a _ramen_ chef!

Teuchi had a severe look on his face, "YOU!"

Without warning, the proverbial storm clouds disappeared in an instant, "You were smiling weren't you?"

Fox gaped for a moment after just what Teuchi had said sunk in. A trembling hand rose and brushed against his lips. _I was smiling wasn't I?_ he thought rather inanely.

Fox shook his head, "I don't know why though…" he whispered, more to himself than anything else. He paid for his ramen, still not having any, said a polite goodbye to Teuchi, and left still very much confused.

Why would he smile? He had nothing to smile about and could literally cound the number of times he had given someone a genuine smile on his left hand.

So why had he smiled?

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Teuchi smiled happily even thought Fox had been plunged into confusion.

He was finally coming out of the shell he had so painstakingly crafted for himself. The cage of ice he had imprisoned his heart in was thawing, if only slightly.

Teuchi frowned thought, _I pray to Kami-sama however that whatever it is that is doing this doesn't destroy him like that damn Uchiha brat almost did. Naruto has enough problems trusting people without something like that happening again._

He followed Fox with his eyes, _I'm going to tell Tsunade-sama about this. It is about _time_ something good happened to that boy. She'll be overjoyed._

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Tsunade surreptitiously scrutinized the only one who held the potential to succeed her as she shuffled the papers on her desk. She knew that he knew that she was studying him but she didn't let that bother her, he had long since surpassed her.

What she wanted to know was if what Teuchi had told her was true. And if so, why?

There was nothing different that she could determine. No change in his stance. No glimmer of emotion in his demonic red eyes.

He was as cold and professional as ever.

She couldn't stall any longer and placed Fox's mission assignment down on the top of the pile.

"This is a rather routine mission…"

The rest of her speech became mere white noise, even to her own ears, boring, normal, and overall, rather mundane. Trying to figure out the complex and often distressing puzzle that was Fox however…

That was _much_ more interesting.

"Do you understand your mission directives?"

Fox just nodded his head in a confidant affirmative though if it were on anyone else it would have just seemed plain cocky, "Hai."

"Good. You have by the end of the week to accomplish your objective."

Fox nodded once more and vanished.

Tsunade shook her head in something that resembled amusement, she couldn't ever tell when it came that boy.

She would have never thought that someone could surpass the jutsu that were created by the Yondaime, yet Kazama Arashi's legacy…

Perhaps it was only fitting…

Tsunade snorted and shook her head. _What's done is done,_ she thought to herself, _I can only hope that what is done is for the best._

_Shunpo no Hiraishin though…_ the Hokage thought as she stared at the last place she had seen her top ANBU, _"The Flash Step of the Flying Thunder God"… A move like that… It is a technique of the gods themselves._

A stray thought wormed itself into her mind, _Or of demons. Who knows _what_ the Kyuubi has taught him…_

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Fox stood on top of the tower, crouched on the railing, looking at the waning crescent moon.

_Kyuubi-nii-sama?_

An immense presence resting in the back of his mind shifted slightly, seeming to wake and pushed closer to Fox's conscious mind, _**What is it, Kit?**_ the voice spoke.

It was an old but regal voice, one that you could tell had held much power but was far past its prime. Such was the voice of the Demon Fox Lord.

Fox squeezed his eyes shut in anticipation to the unwanted answer to his question, _How much longer do you have left?_

…_**Kit…**_

Sadness, sorrow, and pity was heaped upon not a little regret, all compressed into that one word told Fox just how close the inevitable really was.

_**I'm sorry Kit, I truly am…**_

Kyuubi, a beast of chaos that he had become known as was _old_. A thousand years had passed him by and he was tired. Bone weary after the Last Blood Rages, Kyuubi was only holding out for one thing.

Naruto.

The one he had come to see as his own kit had shown strength and prowess beyond normal human limits but…

The kit was truly a wounded soul.

And he had caused it.

_**The Last Blood Rages are truly a terrible thing,**_ the great fox mused to himself, careful to not let his thoughts spill over to his vessel, _**I may have destroyed the village but what I regret the most is the way the Kit's innocence was stolen from him.**_

At the natural end of each kitsune's life, they, instead of peacefully drifting off, are filled with a bloodlust so terrible and fierce, none could withstand it. The one that _could_ however was considered that kitsune's heir. The Laws were long obsolete however, with only the nine Demon Lords left, few, if any could stand up to their might.

The Yondaime was such an heir but with his death, the one that he selected, Naruto became his replacement by default.

The selection was not a verbal contract but with his unknowing actions, the boy's father had given him a gift and a curse beyond even what he had guessed or was capable of imagining. He had expected the villager's hatred, just like he had expected that Naruto would be able to wield some of the Kyuubi's chakra.

What he didn't know was that with time, Naruto would _become_ the Kyuubi, nine tails and all.

He didn't realize what the Last Blood Rages were.

He didn't know their purpose.

And he most definitely didn't know that, by an age old Law, written before even the Bijuu had come into existence, he had cursed his son with a burden no mortal should have to shoulder.

_**You should go,**_ Kyuubi told Fox, _**missions wait for no man or Fox.**_ Kyuubi chuckled slightly at his own joke even as Fox began to move, jumping over the railing, skimming down the wall, and leaping from rooftop to rooftop towards one of the village gates, quieter than a whisper of wind.

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Fox knelt at the edge of a stream, splashing his face with water. It ran down in red streams, dyeing the white parts of his ANBU uniform red and flew through the air in pink tinted drops as he shook his head vigorously.

He ran a hand across his face, feeling slightly sick despite himself.

The mission he had been given.

It wasn't a mission.

It was a _massacre_.

Fox stood slowly from his crouch and picked his mask up from where he had discarded it on the ground. His lips twisted into a faint grimace as he looked at the mask that he held cupped in between his hands.

The fox painted on it in red snarled menacingly at him, splatters of ruby dripped off of it sluggishly, some of it already drying to a muddied reddish brown.

For some reason, the new mask disturbed him on the deepest levels.

It was the exact same as his old one. The same weight. The same color. The same snarling fox face painted on it in the same shade of red, the color of freshly shed blood.

But it wasn't the same. He didn't know how to describe the feeling he had it but it wasn't something that could be put into words.

A twig snapped in the surrounding brush, causing his head to snap around to look behind him, at the same time, reflexively throwing a kunai with deadly accuracy at the intruder. A wet _splrch_ and a thump muffled by the forest reached his ears.

The sick feeling returned with a vengeance and Fox fell back to his kneels, emptying his stomach of its contents.

_Why is it that I feel so… Vile?_ Fox thought as he wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, _So… Dirty?_

_I didn't even think about it. Killing that person._

He replaced his mask and stood once again before his gaze was drawn back in the direction of his latest kill. He had no wish to see the body. He could see the blood pooling out from under the bush it lay hidden in.

Fox slipped his mask on with a chill but, instead of the steadying steel he usually felt, the feeling of emptiness just dug its claws deeper. He wrestled down the feeling as he left. It was what he wanted. Wasn't it?

_**Is it?**_ Kyuubi murmured quietly, his thoughts lapping at his vessel's like the quiet rippling of a pond, _**Or are you just saying that this feeling is what you want because what you **_**truly**_** feel scares you beyond reason?**_

Fox didn't reply but Kyuubi's words struck a chord somewhere that resonated deeply within him. _Maybe…_ his mental voice said in a mere whisper.

This caused Kyuubi to smile tiredly but still, it was a smile, even with a dental case like his, _**Maybe there's hope for you yet, brat…**_ Of course, Kyuubi didn't let Fox know what he was thinking, not this time. _**I wonder how I can tell the good news to Tsunade without the brat knowing about it… It **_**would**_** be easier to just have him tell her but it would probably just screw everything up, **_he grumbled, _**How annoying not being able to do anything about this… What to do, what to do…**_

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A chill crept over Sakura as she left the hospital. She shuddered, chaffing at her arms as goosebumps rose on them despite the warmth of the night. It passed though and she looked at the sky, _What was that?_ she wondered before she shook it off and continued on home.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A different set of eyes snapped open, only this time, instead of belonging to a pink haired, jade eyed kunoichi, they were a pale, almost silvery blue color, not even bearing the normal black pupil.

_Something is different…_ Neji thought as he sat up, sending his long black hair flying in his face. As he brushed it aside, his fingers came to rest on his forehead, on the green curse seal mark engraved there, feeling a resonation of… something, that he had not felt in quite some time. He didn't recognize it but it felt like he should have.

Neji frowned and fell back on his futon and wound up falling asleep trying to puzzle out what the feeling was.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The only one who could have identified the phenomenon was currently snoozing on her desk, empty sake bottle next to her, ensuring a hangover the next morning.

As deeply as she had sunken in her drunken stupor, she wasn't likely to wake from her dreams of winning millions from her gambling so it passed her by completely.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Fox bypassed the gate guards completely, reported to ANBU headquarters, and handed in the details of his mission before stumbling home, both physically and mentally exhausted.

What was wrong with him?

He tore off his uniform and mask and threw them on the floor before collapsing on his futon, running clawed fingers through long, spiky blonde hair.

His hands shook and his breath came fast and shallow.

What was wrong with him?

He broke out in a cold sweat and hot tears started to roll down his cheeks unbidden.

What was wrong with him?

Fox curled up into a ball and pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes, trying to stop the torrent.

Tsunade was right. There was something wrong with him, he knew that, but he didn't know what.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


End file.
